The University School Wildcats surged ahead early then fended off the Lake Country Lutheran Lightning’s comeback charge and won a Midwest Classic Conference baseball game,10-9 on Tuesday, April 9th at Lake Country Lutheran High School in Hartland.

The Wildcats went ahead by scoring six runs in the second inning. Then, after their hosts scored two runs in the bottom of the inning, and another in the third, the Wildcats scored four more in the top of the fourth to take a 10-3 lead. The Lightning took advantage of a hit, three walks, a hit batsman and three USM errors to score 6 runs and close the score to 10-9 in the bottom of the fourth. Despite being unable to score themselves, the Wildcats kept the Lightning from striking again, and returned to Milwaukee with a victory.

USM’s three pitchers, starter Brandon Montijo who earned the win, Keegan Kubicki, and closer David Mock, who gained the save, gave just six hits in the ball game. But they allowed the Lightning plenty of base runners by surrendering 12 walks.

The Wildcats banged out 12 hits. Blake Carey had 2 of them, while Mock, Kubicki, Tripp Grebe, Henry Hartjes, James Reese, Tommy Hayden and Moustafa Montlani each had 1 hit.

USM got the scoring started. Carey led off the top of second with an infield single. He advanced to second when Reese walked. Hartjes laid down a bunt to move the runners up. Justin Sinykin walked to load the bases. Hayden singled, driving in Carey and leaving the bases loaded. Branden Hicks-Becker then grounded into a fielder’s choice, that scored Reese from third. Grebe singled to score Sinykin; Hicks-Becker took third on the play. Kubicki walked to load the bases once again. Mock came up and cleared them with a long double to the fence in left field to give USM a solid lead.

The Lightning responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Andrew Schumacher walked with 1 out. Bryce Hartle also walked. They both scored when Nick Ruprecht tripled to the right center gap.

Lake Country Lutheran scored a singleton in the following inning. Jack Leverenz doubled to lead off. He went to third on a ground out, and scored on a passed ball.

The Wildcats still held a 6-3 lead, and they made it 10-3 in the top of the fourth. Motlani led off with a single and went to second on another sacrifice bunt by Hicks-Becker. Grebe walked. Kubicki then reached on an error; Grebe went to third and Motlani scored on the play. Mock grounded out to drive home Grebe. Carey lined a single to left to score Kubicki. Reese followed with a single and Hartjes followed him with another single to score Carey.

The Wildcats had a good 10-3 lead, but they squandered most of it with their poor play in the bottom of the inning, which concluded with USM at 10 and Lake Country Lutheran at 9.

The game had become a tense one, but neither team could change the situation. No runs were scored in the final three innings, so USM was able to hold on and win.

After the game, USM’s head coach, Marcellus Dawson breathed a sigh of relief and said, “That was a big win for us. We went to their place and set the tone early and picked up a huge win to sit at 3-0 in the conference. We got off to a hot start by putting up six runs in the second and four in the fourth, but we allowed LCL to get themselves back in the game. We gave up twelve walks and made three errors in the game, which helped make it closer than it should’ve been. The guys were able to settle down and finish off the Lightning in the bottom of the seventh by going through the heart of the lineup to seal the win. It took a group effort from Brandon Montijo, Keegan Kubicki and David Mock on the mound with Montijo getting the W. Our hitters delivered at the plate by banging out twelve hits, putting up ten runs; nine of those were due to RBIs. Blake Carey had two hits, and David Mock continued to drive in runs with four RBIs.”

Dawson concluded by adding, “This group has shown they can handle adversity and go after it as a team. They pick each other up and work together to close out tough games.”

USM is 3-0 and 3-0 in the Midwest Classic Conference. The Wildcats play Lake Country Lutheran in a Midwest Classic Conference game on Thursday, April 11th at USM.